Freshwater News

As carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the atmosphere rise, more CO2 is absorbed into our oceans, making them more acidic. We know the problems this has caused in the saltwater environment. Now, rising CO2 levels are also affecting some freshwaters, too.

No zebra mussels have invaded B.C. waters yet, and an Alberta-based team that uses mussel-sniffing dogs intends to keep it that way.
Discovered in the U.S. 20 years ago, it's believed the tiny critters hitchhiked in the ballast tanks of European ships.

Kingston -
This is a 2 Part interview with Professor John Smol, (Department of Biology, Queen’s University). Part 1 has excerpts from “Legacy of a half century of Athabasca oil sands development recorded by lake ecosystems.” Questions and results are discussed

Calgary -
“Environmental oil sands commentary - Part 2” is a continuation of questions asked of John P. Smol based on the commentary by Peter V. Hodson called “History of environmental contamination by oil extraction” about the Kurek et al (2013) oil sands.

Greenpeace Canada announced its withdrawal yesterday from the Canada Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) claiming logging roads built in Quebec’s Montagnes Blanches region managed by Resolute Forest Products are a violation of the CBFA.

Calgary -
World Water Day is celebrated on March 22, 2012 across the world. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations coordinates world Water Day 2012 and this year the theme is Water and Food Security: The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry.

More than 500 tons of freshwater fish including milk fish and tilapia have drowned in commercial fish cages in Talisay, Batangas and Bolinao, Pangasinan in Luzon Island, Philippines, according to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR)

According to a recent international study, lakes, rivers and other freshwater bodies emit unexpected amounts of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Indirectly, this could impact the expected effects of reforestation programs to fight climate change.

Why a photograph during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina speaks in its thousand words on the nature of pharmaceutical dependence and what that dependence means for freshwater supplies and for human health.

For decades, Great Lakes pollution has been ignored, despite the health consequences. But politicians, especially the next U.S. president, should not ignore the environmental and economic impact a Great Lakes cleanup could do for future generations.